Separator or grader.



E. J. ADAMS.

SEPARATOR 0R GRADER. APPLICATION FILEJD MAY 23. 1915.

Patented May16, 1916.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEY E. 1. ADAMS. SEPARATOR 0R GRADER. APPLICATIONZ'HLED MAY 28,1915- Patented May16, 1916.

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INVEN TOR @Arm/m/Hw I ELMER J. ADAMS, F SPENCERIPQRT, NEW YORK.

SEPARATOR 0R GRADER.

' Application filed May 28, 1915. Serial No. 30,951.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Emma J. ADAMS, of Spencer-port, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented anew and useful Separator or Grader, fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The present invention relates to separators or graders in which fruit or other articles are separated into different siaes or grades, an object of this invention being to provide a simple and inexpensive construction which will handle the articles in such a manner that little or no injury to the articles will take place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction in which the possibility for runovers is practically eliminated.

To these and other. ends, the invention consists in certain parts and combinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter described, the-novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure l is a side view of the separator embodying the present improvements; Fig. 2 is a top view of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view of the under side of a portion of the machine; Fig. 4 is a detail view on the line a-u, Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 6 Fig. 2; Fig; 6 is a sectional view on the line cc, Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the roller which operates to effect the first grading; Fig. 8 is a section on the line (Zd, Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a section on the line ee. Fig. 2 showing the parts enlarged and in one position; and Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 showing the parts in still another position.

According to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, there is provided a runway formed by two side pieces 1 supported bv uprights 2 in an inclined position. At one end of this runway, a hopper 3 is arranged. This hopper preferably is a box-like structure having slats 4 forming the bottom. thereof and separated or spaced apart at 5 to provide ways in which the articles may travel in the direction of the length of the runway. At one end. this hopper has its end wall cut away at its bottom to provide a gravity discharge opening, a strip of. rubber 10 or other suitable materlal dependm;

from the end wall on the inner face of the latter to prevent the articles flowing too Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

freely from the hopper, said strip being slitted at 11 directly above the ways 5 so that the material may readily yieldto permit the passage of the articles from the hopper one at a time on each of said ways. Theend wall -l2'may be notched at 12 directly above the slits 11 so that the material 10 will be more readily'yieldable at the slits than at points between the slits. The hopper, as a whole, may be pivoted at 13 in order that the inclination of the bottom ofthe hopper may be varied, any suitable means being employed for holding the hop per in its adjusted position. Beyond the discharge of the hopper, the runway is provided with a series of grading openings extending transversely of the runway in alinement with each other. These openings may be formed by pieces 14 forming continuations of the slats at such pieces being notched at 1 4 to provide stationary openings of sem1-c1rcular form. The bottom of the runway is provided with a transverse slot communicatingwith semi-circular openingsand a roller 15 is arranged in this slot, said roller being provided with annular grooves 16 of Semi-circular cross section alined with the stationary semi-circular openings so that, when grooves lies opposite one ofthe semi-circuwill be provided through which, if an article be small enough, such article. may drop into any suitable receptacle. The roller projects above the bottom of the runway and thus prevents the articles rolling down such runway. If the articles cannot pass through these circular openings, 7 over the roller 15 by lifting devices 17 which are preferably pivoted at 18 to one side of the groove and areadapted to swing by gravity to and from the periphery of the roller. In operation, the roller turns in such a. direction that these lifting devices project into the stationary semicircular openings to engage the articles and form a an portion of one of such' they are carried acts on them and permits them to swing outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 7 so that they may again-displace the articles from the circular openings formed by the grooves in the roller and the stationary semi-circular openings in the runway. The rotation of the roller 15 maybe effected in any suitable manner but, in this instance, it

. 21 as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Other transversely arranged and upwardly swinging members 20 are provided at different points in the length of the runway for the purpose of stopping or retarding the fruit at such points, and these members are operated so that, as some of said members swing upwardly, others will swing downwardly. In this instance, the first and third of such members are connected by arms 22 to a longitudinally movable bar 23 while the other two of said stop members are connected by arms 24 to the rod 25. These rods are in turn connected by pitmen 26 with the oscillatory lever 27, which is operated by the crank 42.

Between the stop members 20, the bottom members 30 of the runway are each formed with a transverse series of grading openings 31 the sizes of which are different from the first series of grading openings and each of said series openings 31 may, if desirable, be different from each other in size, the drawings, however, showing them all of'the same size. Preferably, the members 30 are each mounted to turnabout the axis 21 of the'member 20 so that the members 30 may swing in opposite directions from the members 20 in order that the fruit, when displaced from the openings 31, may roll freely over the next member 20 to continue its travel down the runway. The downward movements of the members 30 are limited by strips 32 arranged on opposite sides of the runway below said members 30 while the upward movements of the members 30 are limited by the side walls 1 of the runway, said side walls being notched at 33 to permit such upward movements to be increased. For supporting the members 30 and 20, metal strips 34 are secured to the sides 1 of the runway and depend below said sides and to these depending ends, the pivots 21 are secured.

The displacement of the articles from the grading openings 31 may be effected by displacers 35 adapted to pass through said openings and carried by arms 36 which extend laterally from the members 20, said arms being extended beyond the displacers the downward movement of the member 20, discharge of the thus facilitating the articles from the member 30. Those articles which are too large to pass through the grading openings are discharged onto the slatted bottom 38 of the runway which may form a receptacle for holding the large articles by closing the end thereof witha removable end board 39. The arms 36. may be made of resilient material so that the displacers may yield relatively to their operating means in order to prevent injury to the machine should any articlesbeconie wedged in the grading openings.

Vith the end in view of causing the articles to travel one at a time over each one of the openings 31, the bottom sections 19, 20 and 30 are each provided with short strips 40 which aline throughout the machine to provide a number of ways or channels so that the articles travel in a straight path from the time they leave the hopper until they enter the slatted bottom portion 38 .of the runway. It is also desirable to cover with a yielding material all parts by which the articles are liable to be injured.

The operation of the invention is as fol-. lows: The articles to be separated, such for instance as apples, are deposited in the hopper and leave the latter one at a time through the slits 11, passing to the first series of grading openings where they. are. stopped by the roller 15 unless they are small enough to pass through such series of grading openings. From this point, the articles are passed over the drum or roller by the engagement of the lifters 17 which are projected into the grading openings,

lifting the articles with the'rotation of the roller or drum, the lifters falling to inoperative positions so as to pass the bottom piece 19, after the articles are discharged. On the bottom piece 19, the articles are held by the stop member 20 until the member 30 is lowered when the articles pass from. the member 19 over the member 20 to the member 30. If the articles are small enough, they pass through the opening 31 into any suitable receptacle andif not, they are held insaid opening, being prevented from passing beyond the member 30 by'the next stop member 20 which has been raised to stop position with the lowering of the first mentioned stop member. After a. time, the seclVhen a stop member 20 swings acers 35 thereon move 0nd mentioned stop member lowers and,

at the same time, carries the displacers 35 upwardly, ejecting the articles from the openings 31 in member 30 and shortly thereafter tilting the member 30 upwardly to cause the articles to be discharged over said second stop member 20 onto the next member 30 where they are again stopped and acted upon in the same manner as on the first mentioned member 30. This action is continued until the articles are discharged onto the slatted bottom 38 of the runway or are passed through the grading openings.

According to this invention, it is possible to grade the articles without having any runovers as each article is compelled to be positioned over a number of g 'ading openings so that if an article of small size should fail to pass through one opening its chances of failing to pass through the others are very small. The articles are handled in such a way that there are only small possibilities for injury to them.

WVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination in a grader, a runway having a bottom formed with a series of grading openings extending transversely of the runway, and stopping means movabletoward and from the path of the articles as they travel through the runway to cause them to enter said openings.

2. In combination in a grader, a runway having abottom .formed with a series of grading openings extending transversely of the runway, and a stop member extending transversely of the runway and, when in one position, permitting the passage of the articles through the runway and, when in another position, causing the articles to enter the openings.

3. In combination in a grader, a runway having a bottom formed with a series of grading openings extending transversely of the runway, a stop member extending transversely of the runway and, when in one position, permittingthe passage of the articles through the runway and, when in another position, causing the articles to enter the openings, and means for displacing the articles held in said openings when the stop member is positioned to permit the travel of the articles through the runway.

4. In combination in a grader, a runway having a bottom provided with two members, one of which has a series of grading openings extending transversely of the runway, and the other of which extends transversely of the runway beyond the grading openings to swing upwardly in the path of the articles to stop them in order to cause the articles to enter the grader openings.

5. In combination in a grader, a runway having a bottom provided with two members, one of which has a series of grading transversely of the runway, the axis being situated at that edge of the transverse member nearest the discharge end of the runway.

7. In combination in a grader, a runway having a bottom provided with a member formed with grading openings and mounted to swing. about anaxis extending transversely of the runway, and means for displacing articles upwardly from said openings when the member swings upwardly.

8. In a grader, a runway having a bottom provided with two members, both of which are mounted to swing upwardly to incline in opposite directions, one of said members being provided with grading openings and moving upwardly.to cause the articles to travel downwardly over the same, and the other moving upwardly to cause the articles to enter the openings of the first named member.

9. In combination in a grader, a runway having a bottom provided with two members, both of which are mounted to swing upwardly to incline in opposite directions, one of said members being provided with grading openings and moving upwardly to cause the articles to travel downwardly over the same, and the other moving upwardly to cause the articles to enter the openings of the first named member, and means for displacing articles from the openings of the first named member while the latter is moved upwardly.

10. In combination in grader, a runway having a bottom provided with two members mounted to swing upwardly about a common axis extending transversely of the runway, one of said members being provided with grading openings, and the other acting as a stop, and means for swinging one member upwardly and the other downwardly and vice versa. 7

11. In combination in a grader .-a runway having a bottom provided with two members mounted to swing upwardly about a common axis extending transversely of thenplace the articles from the grading openings as the stop member moves downwardly.

1-2. In combination in a grader, a runway having a bottom provided'with two members mounted to turn about a common axis extending transversely of the runway, one of said members acting as a stop and the other being provided with grading openings, arms extending laterally from the stop member and carrying portions to enter the grading openings to displace articles from the latter and portions to engage the grading member to lift the latter as the stop member moves downwardly, and means connected to the stop member for raising and lowering the latter.

13. In combination in a grader, a runway formed of a plurality of parallel series of grading openings extending transversely of the runway. and ,movable stopping means adjacent each series to cause the articles to enter the openings of the series.

1.4. In combination in a grader, a runway formed with a plurality of parallel rows of grading openings extending transversely of the runway, and movable transversely extending stop members, one for each row of openings to cause the articles to enter such openings.

15. In combination in a grader, a runway embodying a plurality of bottom pieces each formed with a pluality of grading openings, said runway being provided with transverseopenings adjacent each bottom. piece, and movable stop members arranged to operate said trai'isverse openings.

16. In combination in a grader, a runwayv 17. In combination in a grader, a runway having an opening, a rotary roller arranged in said runway and having a circumferential groove forming with said opening, a grading opening, and lifting means carried by said roller to displace the articles from said grading openings andto carry them over the roller, said lifting means being movable by gravity to and from operative position.

18. In combination in a grader, a'runway having an opening, a rotary roller arranged in said runway and having a circumferential groove forming with said runway opening, a grading opening, and a pivoted lifter mounted on said roller to be projected to and from the periphery of the roller.

19. In combination in a grader, a runway having a transverse-series of semicircular openings, and a transversely-extending slot with which all of said openings communicate, a rotary roller arranged in said slot and provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves forming, with said semicircular openings, grading openings, and lifting devices carried by said roller for lifting articles from the grading openings over the roller.

20. In combination with a grader, having a channel provided with grading openings, a hopper having a gravity discharge opening leading to said channel, anda flexible member closing said discharge opening and provided witha slit through which the articles pass to the channel.

21. In combination with a grader, having channels provided with grading openings, a hopper having a gravity discharge opening, a bottom formed with a plurality of ways leading to said opening and to the channels of the grader, and a flexible strip closing said opening and provided with slits over the ways.

ELMER J. ADAMS. 

